With North Korea-U.S. talks stalled, many had their eyes on Kim Jong-un's New Year's speech, hoping for a breakthrough.
And while the State Department decided not to comment on the speech, President Trump expressed his hopes to meet with Kim.
Lee Ji-won has more.
In response to Kim Jong-un's New Year's speech, U.S. President Donald Trump said he too looks forward to meeting with his North Korean counterpart.
President Trump on Tuesday evening, tweeted the comment together with part of a news report that says Kim Jong-un is ready to meet President Trump anytime.
He referred to Kim as someone who realizes that North Korea possesses great economic potential.
Trump's tweet also included the part of the report where it said the regime will not make or test nuclear weapons or give them to others.
This follows the North Korean leader's New Year's speech early on Tuesday, where he said he is firmly determined to denuclearize.
But Kim also said, should the U.S. not keep its promise to the world, and only urge the North to take measures, Pyeongyang will have no choice but to find "other ways" to settle peace on the Korean Peninsula.
And in making a peaceful and prosperous peninsula, Kim said efforts for multi-party talks should be made to change the current armistice agreement to a declaration to end the Korean War,... and have South Korea cease all military drills with "other foreign sources."
Kim's New Year's speech was long awaited by many around the world as it was hoped to provide a breakthrough in the current months-long deadlock in the denuclearization talks.
But the U.S. seemed to be careful on its evaluation of the speech.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson,.. speaking to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday said the U.S. declines the "opportunity to comment".
While such a response is uncommon, some watchers say that the temporary shutdown of the U.S. federal government may have been a reason for it.
Meanwhile, major U.S. media outlets reported on how the deadlock still continues.
The New York Times said that the nuclear negotiations are back at square one, as the North's demands are not that different from before the summit.
And the Washington Post cited a senior analyst who said that the U.S. should move decisively in the new year to find out how far Kim is willing to go towards a verified cap on his arsenal.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
